SouthCoast names surface in state probation trial

BOSTON — Amid testimony Friday about elected officials backing applicants for a 2005 Bristol Superior Court post, Judge William Young advised the jury to "keep your eye on the ball" during what's expected to be a lengthy trial of three former state probation department officials.

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By ANDY METZGER

southcoasttoday.com

By ANDY METZGER

Posted May. 10, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By ANDY METZGER
Posted May. 10, 2014 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

BOSTON — Amid testimony Friday about elected officials backing applicants for a 2005 Bristol Superior Court post, Judge William Young advised the jury to "keep your eye on the ball" during what's expected to be a lengthy trial of three former state probation department officials.

Young reminded the jurors that political patronage is not a crime and said the prosecutors are trying to prove the officials falsely certified that hiring policies had been followed.

Among those whose names came up in testimony Friday were a bevy of local elected officials, including state Sens. Mark Montigny and Marc Pacheco; former state Rep. John Quinn and former Fairhaven School Committee member Douglas MacLean, the son of longtime former state Sen. William Q. "Biff" MacLean.

Ellen Slaney, a former probation department official, testified Friday she was told in advance the name of a job candidate who she was told to advance through a supposedly merit-based interview for "political" reasons. Defense attorneys also quizzed Slaney on her role in her niece receiving a probation job.

Federal prosecutors are attempting to prove that former Probation Commissioner John O'Brien and two former deputies, Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke III, secretly manipulated the hiring apparatus to install politically connected candidates regardless of whether they were the best choice for the job.

Slaney, the prosecution's first witness, said she believed her niece had been passed over for probation officer positions because Slaney had resisted cooperating in the patronage system. She said she did not attempt to secure any special treatment for her niece, Moira Toomey.

"I was only asking that she be treated like everyone else," said Slaney, who said she wrote a thank you to O'Brien after she was hired.

Slaney said she participated in some interviews over about a decade in which she was asked to advance a particular name, though in select cases she had her own preferred candidate or believed the selected candidate was unqualified.

In 2000 she passed over favored applicant Doug MacLean — the son of a former state Sen. MacLean — because he had a felony on his record and a history of substance abuse, according to Slaney.

Slaney said O'Brien admonished her for not advancing MacLean, who got the job, and she said she begged off participation in future interviews. However, after a hiring freeze ended in 2005 she was asked to participate in interviews to fill the position of first assistant chief probation officer at Bristol Superior Court.

Slaney said she and the chief probation officer at the court believed they knew who would be best for the job ahead of the interviews, but Tavares told her to move forward with Joseph Dooley, who was eventually hired.

"She told me, 'Sometimes the political thing had to be done,'" Slaney said on the stand, quoting Tavares who was seated at a defense table in front of her.

"You didn't really know what she meant when she said that?" asked Bailey, which Slaney conceded. He said, "Have you ever heard of the phrase workplace politics?"

"Not really," Slaney replied.

An independent counsel report into patronage in the probation department reported that Dooley had the backing of Sen. Marc Pacheco, a Taunton Democrat.

Prosecutors say O'Brien backed candidates to gain "political currency" from their sponsors, some of the most powerful people in state government, while defense attorneys contend he merely sought the advice of respected government officials.

Defense attorney Stellio Sinnis produced applications that showed five of the seven other candidates for the Bristol court position had the backing of various elected officials, including Sen. Montigny, D-New Bedford, former Rep. James Fagan, D-Taunton, and former Rep. Quinn, D-Dartmouth.